Background
John Leary was born at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
John Leary was born at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
As a young man Leary engaged successfully in shipping, lumbering, and general merchandising at St. John and Woodstock, New Brunswick, and at Houlton, Maine. Business reverses, however, induced him to migrate to the Far West, and he arrived at Seattle, Washington Territory, in 1869. A couple of years later he was admitted to the bar, and, after having been associated with two law firms, he withdrew from practice in 1882.
Business enterprises of most varied character, but generally identified with Seattle and the Puget Sound country, absorbed his energies for the remainder of his life. Beginning as part owner in the Talbot coal mines, he extended these interests, opening the Leary mines, and establishing his own town of Leary. From mining he turned to real estate and became one of the largest holders of real property in Seattle. His financial interests in public utilities were large; in the city gas plant, in the company to furnish the city's water, in street railway and cable lines. He was also a promoter of elevator and warehouse companies. When it seemed as if the Northern Pacific would discriminate against Seattle, Leary organized, 1873, the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad to connect his city with the transcontinental line.
In 1891, he established the Columbia River & Puget Sound Navigation Company, which soon operated a fleet of coasters and ferry boats. James P. Ludlow was enabled through Leary's aid to secure the contract to carry mail from Puget Sound to Alaska and intermediate points, a privilege formerly enjoyed by a Portland concern. This versatile individual was also part owner of the Seattle Post, 1882, which was amalgamated with the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Later he held shares in the Morning Journal, which in 1891 was absorbed by the Seattle Telegraph. He was a founder of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce (April 1882) and for two terms its president.
From 1884 to 1886 he was mayor of Seattle. He was also a regent of the University of Washington. His membership in the governing council of the Irish National League of America indicated a more cosmopolitan interest. Leary died at Riverside, California.
Leary was twice married: first to Mary Blanchard; and second, April 21, 1892, to Eliza P. Ferry, daughter of Elisha P. Ferry, first governor of the state of Washington.